Shadowplay | Tony Stark

THIRTY EIGHT - DOING BETTER

"We have this in our hands now, we can't afford to lose it, and I'm confident that we won't. I think if we just-"

"Daddy!"

The rest of Tony's words were plucked right from his mouth when Tristan's voice echoed from down the hallway, followed by a cascading of toddling footsteps that grew louder imminently.

The Avengers were sat having a debrief in one of the boardrooms at the Stark Tower, all of then exchanging knowing glances and raised eyebrows as they sat around a long glass table, some of them even trying their best to hold back a smirk or a laugh.

Once upon a time, Tony wouldn't have allowed a meeting to be interrupted by anybody, let alone when he was speaking, however the small voice and childish giggle of mischief made his heart swell, pulling a smile onto his lips that wasn't budging any time soon.

Tristan ran into the meeting room and launched himself onto Tony's lap, sending the two of them flying backwards on the desk chair, the rest of the room silent.

Tony chuckled to himself, pulling the child up and sitting him on his knee before wheeling them both back over to the desk.

"You remember the other guys, don't you? Say hello."

Natasha watched as Tony subconsciously fixed the child's messy hair and tucked in the tag on the collar of his t-shirt. She smiled, glancing across the table at Steve who smiled back, shaking his head in disbelief at the change in their friend.

A man once rolling dice in casinos and leaving parties with four women on his arms was now spending his mornings making oatmeal and slicing up grapes, refilling plastic cups and watching reruns of kids cartoons that drove him insane, though he did all of it without a single complaint.

Tony's life might've changed more or less overnight when he met Mila and Tristan Campbell, but it had certainly changed for the better. Everyone had noticed how positive Tony was since falling in love, how he cared about the details of things more and became less reckless now he had something to live for, and the Avengers were nothing but grateful for it.

"I'm sorry Mr Stark, I turned my back for two minutes and he took off running!"

Peter appeared in the doorway, panting in attempt to catch his breath, one hand leaning on the doorframe and the other resting on his chest.

Tony glanced at him once before his attention was drawn to Tristan slamming a plastic Spider-Man action figure down on the table, earning a couple of quiet laughs from those sitting around the room.

"Kid, get in here," Tony said, standing up before placing Tristan down on the edge of the table, "Why don't we take a break guys? We'll circle back tomorrow, alright?"

There was a general mumbling of agreement throughout The Avengers as they grabbed their belongings and headed out of the room, Clint being the only one to successfully coax a wave out of Tristan as he walked past the child.

"A-Am I in trouble? I'm sorry, I know I should've been keeping an eye on-"

"You're not in trouble, Parker, calm down."

The panic in Peter's dark eyes seemed to fade ever so slightly with the sound of reassurance. The teenager's lips fell closed and he nodded once, pushing the door closed before walking over to Tony and standing beside him, both of them looking out at New York while Tristan played happily by himself.

Tony drew in a long breath, hands buried deep in his pockets as he psyched himself up for what he was about to say.

Words had never come too easily for Tony, at least not ones from the heart. Sure, the superhero was full of wit and could charm practically anybody, but he struggled with the deeper things sometimes, the things he wanted to say but didn't quite know how.